What if
by Amari-Soto
Summary: What if the avatar characters were in the real world, with noraml lives? What if Zuko and Katara met on different terms...like say HIGH SCHOOL! My first story, so go ahead and be harsh on me if you have to.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: I'm late!

Katara woke up to the sun barely coming onto her face from the shut blinds of her window. Rubbing her eyes, she looked at the clock. 12:45!

'Oh my god' she thought jumping out of bed and throwing on a pair of jeans that lay on the floor from last night. She was supposed to be meeting her friends at the mall at 1:00. Running into the bathroom across the hall from her room, she grabbed and put on a blue halter top that was on the counter by her sink. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Katara picked up her brush and began to brush out the knots created from her sleeping last night. Afterwards, she turned on the water in her sink and splashed cold water on her face. It always seemed to help her wake up in morning, especially when she was in a hurry.

'I'm going to be late' she thought to herself.

She ran downstairs to the living room where she found Sokka watching TV in his boxers and a white T-shirt.

"What's the rush, sis?"

"I'm going to be late meeting up with Suki and Yue at the mall today. Do you think you can give me a ride there?"

His ears popped up to the two girls names.

"Sure! Hang on let me grab some pants," he said as he ran to the laundry room.

Katara walked over to the front door, grabbing her black and light blue purse next to it. Just then Sokka came running to the door with his belt half way done.

"Come on."

Katara laughed a bit at the sight of her brother. 'Oh well I'm late already, better call them to let them know I'm on my way' she thought just as her phone went off in her purse. Digging through all the junk in it she finally found it and answered.

"Hello?"

"WHERE ARE YOU! Did you over sleep again?" answered Suki on the other line of the phone.

"Sorry, I stayed up too late last night on the computer again. But don't worry I'm on my way right now as we're speaking, k?"

"Alright, just hurry. We'll be by the fountain."

"Ok, I'll be there in 10 min. bye."

"Bye."

Putting away her phone in her purse, Katara hopped in her brother's car. Sokka pulled out of the driveway and sped off towards Fire Wheel Mall. Katara lowered the window to feel the breeze coming onto her face cooling her off. Her brother's air conditioner broke 'bout two weeks ago and it happened to be the hottest day in history of August. 'At least the breeze isn't so bad' Katara thought as she let her hand float outside the window. She liked playing with the wind whenever they we're driving. She'd pretend sometimes that she was controlling the current. Thinking back on those happy memories, she drifted off. She didn't even feel the car come to a stop in front of the fountain.

"Hey, Katara, you awake? We're here."

"Hmm? Oh thanks, Sokka," she said as she grabbed her purse and got out of the car.

"Are you going to need me to pick you up?" Sokka asked as he eyed Katara's two friends walking up to the car.

"No, I think I can hitch a ride with one of the other two."

"Alright, then. Bye", he waved to his sister and her friends with a grin and drove off.

Katara turned to Suki and Yue. Suki was wearing khaki capris, a green forest shirt and sandals. Yue on the other hand was wearing a long white flowing skirt and a light blue blouse. They've been friends since kindergarten. They met Katara in middle school, right after she moved from Florida.

"Can you believe that we only have one more week 'til we start high school?" asked Suki.

"Sadly, yes. Summer has surely gone by pretty fast this year, don't you think, Katara?" Yue responded.

"Yeah," she sighed."I'm not looking too forward to school. I still can't believe we're going to be in high school."

"Well, let's make the best of it and shop" Suki said trying to get to get the two girls spirit up.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Stranger

"Let's head over to Starbucks real quick, I'm dying of thirst," Katara suggested.

"Sure. Maybe Haru will be there today" Suki said.

The girls walked the crosswalk over to where the Kay Jeweler's store was on the corner. Walking into the Starbucks next to it, Suki spotted Haru making an order. He looked up, after handing the drink to the patient customer and smiled at the trio.

"Hey, what are you girls up to?" Haru asked.

"Just trying to escape the boredom of being at home in this heat", Katara responded. "How's work doing?"

"Business has been doing pretty good so far even with this weather. So what, are you just shopping?"

"Yeah, we just started. We were just waiting for sleepy head to wake up and get her butt over here," Suki said pointing at Katara.

"Hmm. Stayed up too late on the computer again, didn't you?"

"Yes," Katara sighed.

"Well, I got to get back to work before Casey comes out here and get's onto me. Y'all have fun, alright?"

"We will," smiled Yue.

Walking over to get into line, they looked up to see what they wanted. 'Hmm, I'm kinda in a chocolate mood today' thought Katara. As she looked up at the cash register, getting ready to order, something caught her eye outside the window. 'Red?' Katara looked over to see what it was, but sadly it disappeared through a crowd of people walking in the door. 'Hmm, what was that?'

"Katara? Hello? It's your turn," Suki poked her in the back to get her attention.

"Oh, thanks." She looked up at the girl at the register and ordered a double chocolate chip frappichino Grande.

As they waved Haru goodbye and walked out, Suki nudged Katara in the arm.

"Hey, what was with you in there?"

"Nothing. I thought I saw something walk by outside, but it disappeared before I could get a good look at what it was."

"Ok. Well, where do y'all want to go first?" Suki asked the two girls sipping their drinks.

"Not sure. It's been awhile since I was here last", Yue said.

"That's right, you just got back yesterday from...where was it that you went again?" Katara asked her.

"Alaska. I was visiting some of my family up there."

"How was it?" Suki asked, as they stopped and sat down in the shade on one of the benches.

"Well for starters, the weather was much better up there. I never did like the summer. But my cousins are doing alright. It's been two years since I last saw them."

"Didn't you move down here from Alaska?" Katara asked her.

"Yes, but that was a long time ago. I think was 'bout 3 or 4 when we moved. My dad found a job down here a few months after he got layed off."

"Hmm."

Suki stood up and stretched her arms in the air and looked around.

"Well, I want to check out Hot Topic and see if they have anything new," she said.

They got up from their comfy spots and started towards Hot Topic. As they walked, Katara glanced up at the tall buildings. The mall was new, it opened up last year and she was hoping to get a job at one of the stores eventually once she turned 16. But of course she would have to wait another year before that happened. The sad story of being a December baby.

A/N:((If you don't get it, she's going to be turning 15 this December.))

The sound of her two friends laughing caught her out of her quite trance. Katara grabbed the door knob to open it as she talked to them and walk in, but wasn't paying attention and ran into someone.

"Umph! Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't looking where I was going," she apologized.

She looked up at to see who she ran into and was shocked. 'RED!'

"Its fine," he said quietly.

Katara began to blush at the sight of him. He had pale skin and his long, jet black hair was put up into a ponytail. He was wearing a tight dark red T-shirt showing off his muscular body under it and black baggy-ish jeans. But his eyes is what really caught her attention. Golden yellow eyes. They were so mysterious and beautiful.

"Umm, Katara? You might want to move out of the way so he can get out," Suki pointed out.

Katara turned completely red all over her face, as she moved aside for him, still holding the door open.

"Thanks," he said in a low voice.

As he walked out and down the sidewalk, she couldn't help but stare at him, speechless. Though it didn't last very long since Yue and Suki grabbed her arms and dragged her inside. 'Wow...' She felt so embarrassed for standing there staring at him in the doorway. 'I wonder what his name is,' she thought for a moment.

Yue walked over to the back of the store to look at the tops they had hanging on the wall by the dressing room. Suki was on the other side of the display of underwear, behind Yue, looking at the leather boots. Katara walked over next to Yue, to see if she liked anything. 'Of course,' she thought. 'I wouldn't be allowed to wear any of this to school, thanks to their new dress code.'

"Hey, Katara, Yue, come here. What do you think of these?" Suki asked.

They walked over to see what she was talking 'bout. Suki was wearing a pair of leather boots that went to the bottom of her knee. They had buckled straps from top to bottom, with thick heels and a zipper going up on the side of it.

"Nice, but how much are they?" Yue said.

Suki looked at the price tag and her face brightened up.

"They're $20 off, so it'd be $25."

"Not bad, you should get them," suggested Katara.

Suki smiled, taking them off and putting her own shoes back on.

"I will," she said, as she walked over to the cash register.

After Suki paid for the boots, they walked out of the store and went over to Spencer's. It was on the other side of Hot Topic only more towards the Foley's at the end of the corner. They went inside, being greeted by one of the workers, and named Alex.

"Welcome to Spencer's, if you have any questions 'bout our sales don't be afraid to ask."

"Thanks. We're just looking around", Yue said.

Katara went over to the display of necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Yue came to her side looking with her, as Suki talked to Alex. Nothing really caught eye that she wanted. Turning around, she saw the stack of pranks displayed. Smiling, Katara walked over and took a look at them. 'Sokka would like this stuff.' Just then, she noticed a pack of trick candles. Katara laughed inwardly. Sokka's birthday was coming up. 'These should help me get even with him for that prank he pulled off on me at the pool.' Katara picked up a pack to buy and walked over where Suki and Yue were. They were looking at the posters in the back.

"Hey, look what I found," Katara said to her friends holding up the pack of trick candles.

The girls got an evil look on their faces.

"Those for Sokka?" Suki asked, remembering what happened to Katara at the pool earlier that summer.

Katara just smiled evilly back. Walking around the corner where the sex toys were displayed. She was never interested in that stuff, but still found some of it funny at what they could come up with now a day. Suki laughed as she followed Katara.

"Katara, look. You should get your Gran gran one of these."

Katara turned around to find Suki pulling down one of the old people canes that had all sorts of things on it. A sign saying 'Over the Hill' with the number 50 on it, a right hand mirror on the side and a hot neon pink horn.

"That's not nice, Suki," Yue said. "She's not THAT old."

"Still, it would be funny," she answered back with a smile.

Suki put down the cane with the rest and followed the other two at the Fairy display. Katara knew that Yue was a December baby as well and that she loved fairies. She was hoping that she could find out which ones Yue liked so she could come back later and buy them.

"I'm going to go pay for these real quick," Katara said, holding up the candles in her left hand.

She walked over to cash register, when she noticed that guy from earlier at Hot Topic right across from her looking at the lighters. Katara began to blush a bit as she stare at him. Just then, he looked up at her. Katara, embarrassed at being caught staring at him again, immediately looked down, blushing even harder. She quickly finished paying for the candles and ran to her friends who were still looking at the fairies. Luckily, they didn't notice him in the store.

A few minutes later, Katara saw him buying the lighter he was looking at. He paid for it and left, without noticing her staring at him again.

After they were done looking around they walked out saying 'bye' to Alex. The trio spent the rest of the afternoon at Barnes and Noble. They grabbed a stack full of manga and went over to the comfy chairs the store had set up and read for 2 hours.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Ok I just wanted "Thank you to all who reviewed and e-mailed me 'bout my story." To tell you the truth one night I just finished reading a story 'bout them being in high school (my personal favorite type of stories) and wanted to write one. I wasn't really thinking when I started writing it. I kinda took my own personal experiences a bit and mixed it with the character's personalities, thus creating this beautiful idea called my masterpiece. Thank you again for the reviews. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 3: His name is Zuko

"Hey, Yue, what time is it?" Suki asked, taking a look outside the window of the book store. The sun was finally starting to set.

"Umm...hang on let me check," she said pulling out her cell phone. "It's nearly 5:00. We've been in here for 'bout 2 hours so far."

Sighing, she said, "Ok, we need to start heading out then, I promised my mom that I would be back around 5:30 or so to help her with the attic."

They got up and began to gather their books, when Yue noticed that Katara was still reading, all comfy in her spot.

"Katara, you ready to go?" Yue asked her.

"Huh? Oh, we're leaving?" Katara asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah," said Suki. "I just said that a minute ago."

"Sorry, its just that this manga is REALLY good!"

Suki looked over to see what the cover said.

"What's it called?"

"Fool's Gold."

"What's it 'bout?" Suki asked when her phone rang. "Hang on. Hello?...Yes, we're on our way...yes?...ok, I'll be home in 20 min...alright, I love you, too. Bye."

"Your mom?" Katara asked as she got up from her spot and started getting her things.

"Yeah, she was just making sure that I knew that it was getting near time. So, what's it about, again?"

"I'll tell you later," Katara said grabbing the comics up. "I'm going to go put these up first."

She walked off towards the anime/manga section of Barnes and Noble, putting them back in order. A bit OCD, yes, but she liked things organized when it came to books.

"Hey, we need go, now." Suki said pointing at her cell phone. "We don't have time for you fix the whole bookshelf."

"Alright, coming."

While getting up, Katara thought she noticed the guy from earlier, but was mistaken with another person wearing red a tank top. 'Hmm, I can't stop thinking 'bout him. I mean he was HOT! I wish I could've found out his name at least, but I was too embarrassed to ask,' she thought while running up behind her friends to the doors leading to the parking lot.

As they piled in Suki's car and drove off, she saw the sun setting behind the trees. 'Its so beautiful.' Katara may have preferred winter over summer, but nothing could beat the sunsets they had, no matter which season. She loved the colors all gently mixed together. Whenever she would see one of these sunsets, she would pull out her camera and take a picture to add to the large collection file on her computer. They were too beautiful to forget.

Suki drove up to Katara's house in the driveway, making sure she didn't hit Sokka's car. He always seemed to park at an angle. Katara grabbed her purse, bag from Spencer's and got out, as Suki rolled down her window.

"Call me tonight, if you have time, k?"

"Alright. If I don't, I call you tomorrow. Bye."

She waved to her friends pulling out and watched them drive away. Coming up to the front door, she heard something behind her. As she turned around, Katara saw her Gran gran driving up in her white pickup truck. She put it into park and took out the keys. Getting out, she smiled at Katara.

"Back so soon?"

"Yeah, Suki had to get home early."

"Hmm," nodding her head. "What did y'all do today?"

"Just shopped at Hot Topic, Spencer's, Starbucks and Barnes and Noble," Katara said as she followed her Gran gran inside, shutting the door behind her.

"How do Yue and Suki seem to be doing?" Gran gran asked, while Katara was walking up the stairs to her room.

"They're good," she called back down.

Katara opened her bedroom door, threw her bags on the floor and fell onto her bed. Laying there all comfy and exhausted, her eyes began to get heavy. In minutes she fell asleep.

"Katara, dinner."

Her brows frowned; she opened her eyes to look at the clock. '7:53. how long was I asleep?'

"Katara?"

She could hear brother calling her. Sitting up, rubbing her eyes, she got up and went to the top of the stairs.

"I'm coming," she shouted back.

As she was walking to the bathroom she could Sokka mumbling something about sisters or girls. 'Brothers' she thought. Turning on the sink, she splashed some cold water onto her face to wake her up. Katara grabbed a towel on the rack and wiped her face dry laying it back down. Turning off the lights, she walked downstairs into the kitchen.

"What were you doing up there?" Sokka asked in an annoyed tone.

"Sleeping 'til your loud mouth woke me up," she growled back.

"Hush up you two, it's time to eat," Gran gran interrupted.

While eating...

"So Katara, do you see any cute boys while you were out?" Gran gran asked.

Katara began to blush a bit when she thought 'bout the guy in red.

"Why would she be interested in seeing any guys? She's too young to be dating?" Sokka interrupted in an angry tone.

"I am not! And yes, I did run into this one guy there," Katara replied glaring at Sokka across the table.

"Humph." Sokka glared back and stuffed his mouth with the food on his plate.

"Really? What was he like?" Gran gran asked.

"He's a bit taller than me, pale skin, long black hair in a ponytail, very built, and he has the most gorgous eyes," she said.

"Does this young man have a name?" looking up at her granddaughter.

"Well, you see...," she blushed a bit more. "I never got to ask. I literally ran into him when I was walking into one of the stores and was too embarrassed to ask him."

"Hmm, he sounds nice," Gran gran concluded.

After dinner, in Katara's room...

Katara was at her desk on the internet, looking up a couple sites in silence, when she heard someone come to her door.

"Hey, you busy, sis?"

Sokka stood in the doorway of Katara's room looking at her with his arms crossed over his chest and a book; it seemed, in his right hand.

"No, not really. What's up?" she replied, turning her chair to face him.

"You know that guy you were talking 'bout at dinner?" he asked as he walked up to her.

"Yeah, what 'bout him?" she said with a curious look forming on her face.

He let out a sigh.

"I think I know him," he said handing Katara the book.

It was a yearbook from last year.

"Really?"

"Yeah, how old do you think he looked like?"

"I don't know, maybe your age. Was he in your grade?"

"Well, we're about to find out," he replied, flipping open the book and putting it onto her desk. "This is my grade, go through and see if you can find him."

"Ok," she said in an unsure voice.

While she looked carefully through the pages, Katara began to think 'bout him and they're encounter. 'I wonder, what if Sokka does know him. Is that good thing? Does he have some kind of reputation or something?' She began to get a bit nervous, when she flipped to the next page. Her eyes immediately found him.

"There he is!" she nearly shouted, pointing at the picture.

Sokka looked over her shoulder at the picture and then at the name.

"Zuko. Yeah, I thought I knew him. I had him in my algebra class. He's pretty smart I've heard, but I've never seen him talk before."

"Zuko," Katara repeated his name.

Sokka reached for the book, but was stopped by Katara's hand.

"Can I keep this for a bit longer?"

"Why? Are you going to be drooling all over his picture?" Sokka taunted, reaching for it again.

"NO!" Katara shouted out at him, clutching the book out of his grasp."I just wanted to look through so I can see if I know anyone else."

Sokka didn't believe her.

"Sure, whatever. Night," he said waving his arms in the air and walking out of her room.

Poking his head back in the doorway, he added, "By the way don't stay up so late tonight, Gran wants to take us out tomorrow to shop for any last minutes items we'll be needing for school."

"Ok and shut my door."

After he left, shutting the door behind him, Katara turned around and looked back at the page with Zuko's picture. 'He seems so...mysterious. I mean he isn't even smiling. I wonder if he has any friends, if he doesn't talk that much like Sokka says. Hmm...'

She shut the book the closed after she put a paper clip where his photo was and left it on her desk. Exiting out of the internet, she got up and changed out of her clothes and into her pajamas. Throwing the clothes into the laundry basket by her closet door, she turned off the lights and slid into bed. She wanted to sleep, but her mind kept Katara up. 'Zuko...' Eventually sleep over came her and she knocked out smiling, with just that last thought in her mind.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: School Supplies and Tea

The next day, Katara and Sokka piled into Gran gran's truck and drove off to Wal-Mart. The weather seemed to be doing better today. It seemed that they may actually be getting rain soon after 3 to 4 weeks now. After they pulled into the parking lot of Wal-Mart, Katara got out with her brother and walked up into the store with Gran gran at their side.

"So, what supplies do y'all need?" Gran gran asked as she grabbed a basket.

"Umm...Let's see, I think I need another spiral for History, some permanent markers, and I wanted to get some more ramen noodles," Katara said.

"I thought I bought a 12-pack last week?"

"You did. Sokka ate it all. I was lucky enough to get two of them," Katara said, glaring at her brother accusingly.

"What? I was hungry," Sokka said with his hands up in the air, trying to defend himself. "Anyway, I need to get a binder and some red pens."

At the school supply section of the store, Katara was looking at some different spirals. She was choosing between the one with Jack Sparrow on the cover or the one with a metallic red cover. In the end, Katara choose the one with Jack Sparrow. Walking over to Gran gran, she put the spiral in the basket and looked at the prices on permanent markers. Katara found a pack of 5 markers for $1.05. After, Sokka found a binder and dumped it in with the rest of their stuff, the walked towards the food isle, but Gran gran stopped at the hair products to find a new conditioner she wanted to use, since she didn't like the last one she had bought.

"Katara, you can go ahead and get whatever flavored ramen you want, I'll be over there in a bit," Gran gran said.

As Katara was walking through the isles looking for ramen she heard someone complaining with someone else about...tea? She turned the corner to see an old man picking out different kinds of teas on the rack, while some kid was getting onto him 'bout it being a waste of money. Taking a closer look Katara immediately realized who it was. Zuko!

He was wearing a tight black T-shirt and dark blue jeans, his hair still pulled back into a ponytail.

'Oh my god! What am I supposed to do?' she thought, then noticed that ironically the ramen packages were on the same isle where Zuko and the old man were standing. 'Ok, I just need to ignore him and walk right by, maybe he wouldn't notice her.'

Katara started to walk down the isle acting all normal and avoided eye contact with both people. She was nearing the ramen, when she couldn't help but ease drop on the conversation.

"That's a waste of money, Uncle. Why do you always insist on getting more tea?"

"Because its calming and soothes the soul. You are always so frustrated, you need to relax. I know what will help you."

"What?" Zuko asked.

"A girlfriend! Get someone pretty and kind, like...that girl," he said pointing at Katara's back.

Katara's heart rate shot up. She took a quick glance around the isle to see if he was talking 'bout some other girl, but no. She was the only one standing there with them.

"Miss?" Katara turned around to the old man speaking to her. "Any chance you would be interested in dating my nephew here? I know he may seem a bit unsocial and angry at times, but he's very kind if you get to know him. Isn't that right, Zuko?"

Katara blushed all over. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Then she heard Zuko's voice speak up.

"Uncle! I don't need your help finding a girl! And it's my business anyway, whether I want one or not! Besides, she probably thinks you're crazy," Zuko yelled.

Katara couldn't help but agree with him about his Uncle being a bit nuts at the suggested. I mean, she just met him. Well, technically she never really got to introduce herself to him, she just ran into him.

"Well, he can be stubborn most of the time," Zuko's Uncle said to Katara leaning over to her with a a smile.

Katara didn't know exactly how to respond to this. She opened her mouth to say something finally when she heard her name being called down the aisle. Katara turned her head and saw her Gran gran pushing the cart up to her.

"Making new friends I see, Katara," Gran gran said looking at the old man and young teenage boy.

"Well...umm...kinda," she responded.

"Nice to meet you," Zuko's Uncle shook Gran gran's hand. "Your daughter is very beautiful; I was asking her if she would be interested in dating my nephew."

Gran gran laughed a bit taking a look at Zuko and then Katara.

"She's my granddaughter. I don't see why not, she doesn't have a boyfriend," she said smirking at Katara.

"Gran gran!" Katara retorted.

"I thought you wanted to get some ramen?" she asked.

Katara grunted, walking over to the ramen and grabbing a 12-pack of beef flavored ramen. Walking over to Gran gran she put it in the cart as the two elders continued to tease them.

"Well then, it's a date," his Uncle beamed.

"No, there's nothing. Would you please stop, Uncle?"

"Why? I'm just helping my nephew out," he smiled.

Zuko just grunted walking off.

"I better go catch him, it was nice meeting you, Katara and Kana," he waved and then went off to catch Zuko, who was turning the corner onto another isle.

"He doesn't seem too bad, a bit of a temper, but not bad," Gran gran said as they walked to the cash register.

Katara sighed, and then realized something. 'Where's Sokka?'. Right before she was about to ask, though, she saw him running up to them.

"Where were you?"

"I was checking out the games they have. I didn't find anything worth buying," he answered.

After they paid for everything and walked back to the truck, hands holding bags of stuff, Katara quickly put her stuff inthe back and hopped in.

"What's wrong, sis? You're acting weird," Sokka asked her.

"Oh, she's just embarrassed of meeting this handsome young man today."

"What guy?" Sokka asked now getting very nosey.

"I ran into Zuko again and he was with his uncle," Katara simply answered wanted to get home soon.

Sokka closed the door after getting in sitting next to Katara.

"Are you serious? What's so bad 'bout that?"

"So that was Zuko?" Gran gran interrupted. "You were right, he is cute." She smiled at her grandaughter.

"Yes, that was him." She looked at Sokka. "The problem is that his uncle was asking if I wanted to date him!"

"His uncle wants to go out with you?" Sokka said completely confused.

"No! He wanted me to go out with Zuko."

"Why?"

"I don't know. It was weird. And then Gran gran had to come in and help tease us," she said with a pout.

"It wasn't that bad, Katara" Gran gran said with a quick glance at her.

"It was embarrassing! He probably thinks I'm weird now."

"Doubtful," Sokka said. "You already are weird."

"Shut up!" Katara yelled and then punched him in the arm.

"Oww! What was that for?" Sokka yelled.

"It was for you being a jerk!" Katara yelled back.

It was like this until they got home. After they gathered their groceries, Katara and Sokka started to put the stuff away.

Katara went upstairs to shower after dinner. Showers always seemed to help her relax. Standing there under the hot water, she could feel her body soaking up the heat coming out. She just wanted to stay there in the hot water and sleep. Katara went ahead and quickly washed her hair and got out. She still needed to call Suki since she hadn't the other night. Slipping into her pajamas, Katara walked in her room brushing her damp hair out.

She grabbed her phone and dialed Suki's number real quick and listened to it ring a bit before Suki picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Suki. Sorry I didn't call the other night."

"Oh hey, Katara. That's fine. So what have you been doing?"

"Nothing much, we did some last minute shopping at Wal-Mart."

"See any cute guys?"

Katara blushed a bit when she thought back on her encounter with Zuko.

"Kinda."

"What do you mean 'kinda'? It's a yes or no."

"Well, I ran into someone that we know."

"Who?

"Zuko."

"Who's that?"

"He's the guy that I ran into at the mall."

"Are you serious? Wait! How do you know his name? You didn't ask him when we were there."

"Sokka knows him. They're in the same grade."

"Oh. So what happen?"

"Nothing, I just went to get some ramen and he and his uncle were in the same isle."

"That's it?"

"Well, his uncle was being kinda funny. He was acting like Gran gran does when I mention 'bout a cute guy."

"Hahaha. That's funny."

"Yeah right?" she sighed.

"I have to go, Katara. I'll talk to you later tomorrow, ok?"

"Alright, night."

Katara hung up the phone and turned out the lights and went to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Ok I just wanted to say that I know that they haven't started school yet and I'm sorry that's taking so long, but I wanted to have a background behind each of the characters before throwing them into the big dialogue called High School. A.K.A.: HELL! Anyway I just wanted to say that before I continued on with the story for those reading. I hope you enjoy. Also, if there's anything you don't like or if it's me repeating my words, spelling errors or character personalities are wrong (that's doing with what they say might not be what they would say 'cause of who they are or what they do), then please do tell me, I WANT to know. I do the same thing in my reviews to other writers.

Chapter 5: First Day of Hell

'Here it was. The day had finally came,' she thought as stood there on the corner looking at the sun rise.

"Katara we're going to be late if you keep standing there," Sokka yelled from his car.

She walked over to his car and got in, sighing to herself. The week had gone by so quickly, as if it were just a dream. It was over. Looking outside the window, she could people's houses were still dark, to know that they were still asleep. Katara could see the school as they came up to turn into the driveway. Sokka parked in the back where only the sophomores and juniors are allowed to park. Opening the door she got out and grabbed her bag from the back trunk. She walked with her brother up to the school doors in the back where the gym was. She could see the buses pulling up to the curb by the gym to drop off students.

"So where do I go to get my schedule, Sokka?" she asked.

"Come with me," he said.

They walked up to the doors of the gym and looked at the lists of rooms and teachers on it.

"Here, Room 162, its downstairs. This will be your testing room whenever we have TAKS. They'll give you your schedule in there."

"Ok," she said.

"Well I got to get. See you after school," Sokka said as began to walk off.

"Hey, wait! Where do you want to meet?"

"Just meet me over at the car when you get out."

"Alright."

She watched Sokka disappear through the crowd of students, then she felt a tug on her shoulder. Katara turned around to see Yue standing there behind her.

"Hey, Katara. Did you find out what room you're going to?" Yue asked her friend.

"Yue. Yes, it's downstairs. Room 162. You?"

"I've got Room 150."

"Well I guess we can look around for our rooms together then because I don't know this place very well," Katara suggested.

"Yes, I'm afraid I'm going to get lost in here."

The two girls walked through the rough crowd of people to the cafeteria. From there they could see more and figured to walk over to the hallway at their right. As they were passing students and getting by the vending machines right out side the bathrooms, they finally got some space between them in the hall. Katara noticed the little signs on the corners of the halls had numbers printed on them. She walked her way through some passing students and read it. 'Rooms 140-148' with an arrow pointing to the left and 'Rooms 160-170' with an arrow pointing to the right.

"Well, I guess this is where we split. I need to go this way."

"Yeah, I'll see you later alright?"

"Sure thing, see you," Katara waved as she walked down the hallway.

Katara slipped through on coming 'traffic' until she came to the door marked '162'. She opened the door to an almost empty classroom. There a few students sitting down and talking to one another. Katara chose the seat nearest to the front. Putting her stuff down by her desk, she sat down looking around the room. There were different kinds of science posters hanging on the walls. 'Must be a science room' she thought to herself, when a teacher came walking in the door with a couple of papers in his hands, followed by some other students. 10 minutes went by when she heard the bell go off and most of the desks were filled now.

"Ok class, settle down. My name is Mr. Guzman. I'm a biology teacher and this will be your testing room whenever we have TAKS."

The class groaned when they heard the word TAKS like it was some disease they never stopping hearing about.

"Yes, I know you all hate it and that it takes a long process, but once you get it done its done. Moving on..."

Katara sat there half the time listening to what Mr. Guzman was saying about the rules that they had added this year prior to whatever happened the year before. 'Sokka better not have been one of the reasons their being a bit more strict this year.'

"Ok, I'm required to showing you all this movie that the Drama Club made on school rules."

He walked over to the door and switched the lights off, which basically was to some of the students a reason from going to quiet and calm to loud and screaming things like "We're going to die!", "Oh god its dark" or whatever nonsense. 'This is the reason why people think badly of freshman' thought Katara.

"Hey, cool back there. I can and will give you a detention on the first day of school. You need to grow up," yelled Mr. Guzman.

He shook his head, mumbling something under his breath that I couldn't make out. The projector above us turned on and the Mr. Guzman walked over to the chalk board and pulled down the white screen. He went back over to his desk and turned on the movie, putting it on the projector.

To me it looked like a 'Leave it to Beaver' type of style, but I guess that was there point. It discussed the outside rules first. I know we all laughed at one girls comment. They were saying something about not going to fast on the school lanes when dropping or picking people off. She said "You could get killed speeding" and then "You could killed by a car". It was really funny, I could tell that she definitely belonged in drama. Then they went inside and began to discuss about the on campus rules. It was the usual stuff only they made it funnier. Especially with all the mocking, skipping down hallways, dress code, talking on the phone, listening to i-pods and stuff. I couldn't stop laughing when they talked about PDA. There was a guy named 'Johnny' who was 'making out' in one of the corners in the hallway. He had arms going all up down his back, like he was really into it, but turned around and pointed at us all funny like find it was just him 'making out' with himself.

It showed who were the AP's (Assistant Principles), the schools counselors, and the school's police officer, Officer Doget. He was our Officer back in middle school before he transferred over to the high school here. No one seems to like him, especially Sokka who got in trouble with him back in middle school like every other day it seemed. Though he was always nice to me. I loved it when he use to get onto the cheerleaders and give them a hard time.

I read the credits not recognizing anyone's name. The guy named 'Johnny' name was really 'Micah' and the guy's name (who was the rule director) was Richard. They were both very hilarious.

"Alright now, I'll be passing out y'all's schedules, so just stay seated and quite if you could so I can get through this quicker," Mr. Guzman said as he turned off the movie and projector.

It wasn't until 10 or 15 minutes later that I heard my name be called. I raised my hand for him to see me and walked over to get my schedule. I went back to my seat reading what I had this term.

(This is the schedule layout)

1st period Biology (downstairs)

2nd period German 1 (upstairs)

3rd period Algebra (downstairs)

4th period Theatre Arts 1 (downstairs)

5th period English Honors (upstairs)

'Oh man,' thought Katara to herself. 'I'm going to be busy this term. I just hope I get a class with Suki or Yue,' she sighed.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Ok, I went over my reviews, read them and I will say this, if you're going to be critical about my writing then be kind enough to not send me reviews that don't make any sense nor do they say what I need to fix, like these:

From: Zuko's Flamethrower PWNS j00

"This does not even make sense. Wal-Mart and shit, this is poorly written."

**And my favorite:**

From: SerpentArmour

"And they run on and on and on and on..." Serpent sighs, "Have ya eve' heard of this novel idea, called punctuation. How about Grammar? How about this monumental notion called WRITIN'?"

Ok, for Mr. SerpentArmour, if you're going to critics my grammar, look at your response to me one more time. You get onto me about how I write! Are you serious! You have more grammar problems in your one response than my whole story. 'How about this monumental notion called WRITIN'?' "WRITIN'", is that even a word?

People, I love getting reviews about my writing. I like hearing what I need to fix, but you're going to tell me what to fix, then be VERY clear 'bout it, unlike these two, who don't even tell me what's wrong.

Thanks for reading my story, hope you like it. If you don't, then stop reading it or tell me what's wrong with it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Sodas from heaven**

Katara couldn't wait to see her classes. She kept hoping to have Yue or Suki in one of them. The bell finally rang to release the students to their next class. Katara looked at her schedule and the school map she had gotten earlier in class when Mr. Guzman was passing out their class info papers.

Katara was trying to get through the mass crowd of people in the hallway as she was trying to figure out where her second period was.

'Now where is room 200?' Katara thought when she saw some teachers giving directions to other students. She walked up to an older man named Mr. Clare.

"Excuse me do you know where room 200 is?"

He looked down at her and smiled. "Yes, go down to the end of this hallway and take a right all the way to the end and go up those stairs. It should be the room to your right when you walk passed the coke machine."

"Thank you," she said as Katara walked off.

It was a bit difficult to get through all the students, but she eventually got to the stairway, which was also crowded. When Katara got to the top of the second floor she saw the coke machine and felt a bit parched.

'Hmm…' Katara looked in her pocket for a dollar. Luckily she had four quarters that was so much better than having to deal with nickels and dimes. She put them in machine and pushed the button for Mr. Pibb. It started to make a weird sound and did drop down, but got stuck halfway.

"You've got to be kidding," she said a loud. Katara tried pushing the button to see if she could get her money back. That didn't work, then she kicked it hoping it fall down. That didn't work either.

"This can't be happening. Damn it what a waste of a dollar," she said when someone behind her handed her a dollar.

Katara turned around to meet the face of a guy holding the dollar still in front of her. He had messed up brown hair. He was tan, dark brown eyes and was an inch taller than she was. In the least he was very cute.

"Machine took your money, huh?" he said to her.

"Yes," Katara replied back blushing a little.

"Name's Jet. Yea this machine had problems, but…." He reached over and put in the dollar clicking Vanilla Coke and waited standing there. That's when she heard the noise from before and all the sudden 10 cans dropped out!

"Wow, how'd you know it would do that?!" Katara asked watching him collecting the cans and putting them into his back pack.

"Found out last year. Here," Jet said handing her a Mr. Pibb.

"Thanks, do you think you can carry all those in your bag," asking questionably looking at the bag drooping.

"If you want you can have some of them."

"What kind do you have?" looking into the bag.

"Well let's walk over here by the wall so we don't hold up traffic and get run over," he said walking out of the way with Katara close behind him. He pulls out 2 Cokes, 1 Vanilla Coke, 2 Sprites, 2 more Mr. Pibbs, an orange and grape Fanta.

"I'll take a Sprite and the other 2 Mr. Pibbs, if you don't mind."

"No that's fine," he said when the 2 minute warning bell went off.

"So where's your class, do you know?" he asked. "You look new here."

"I am. It's supposed to be in room 200", she said while putting up the extra drinks in her bag and zipping it up.

"That's right here then," pointing at the door next to them. "So you're taking German with Frau Cannon?"

"Yea, I guess so," putting her bag over her shoulder, but when she was trying to get up, Katara began to fall forward losing her balance. Jet immediately caught her in his arms.

"You ok?"

"Yea," she looked at her watch and saw the bell was 'bout to ring. "Ahh! You need to get to class or you'll be late!"

"Nah, I'm always late, but I'll see you around….wait I didn't get your name."

"Katara."

"See you later Katara," he said waving bye to her and running down the hallway.

Katara walked in the classroom just as the bell rang. She looked at the class and noticed that it wasn't as stuffed like her last class.

'Thank god' she thought to herself.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Deutschland?**

Katara sat in a seat near the door and put her bag down. She looked around to see if she knew anyone, but sadly though, no Yue or Suki. She sighed a little and took out her Mr. Pibb. Katara was so glad when she found out that they could eat and drink in classes. Unlike middle school, you'd get sent to the office if you brought in a closed can in the classroom. As she opened the drink it made a loud sound that got some people's attention.

'Oh god' she thought blushing a bit. 'That's right get people's attention. I hate it when they stare at me'

Taking a sip and trying to ignore anyone looking at her, she pulled out her schedule and reviewed it.

'Hmm...Well it doesn't seem too bad.'

1st period Biology Mr. Guzman (downstairs)

2nd period German 1 Frau Cannon (upstairs)

3rd period Algebra Mrs. Woolley (downstairs)

4th period Theatre Arts 1 Ms. Nelson (downstairs)

5th period English Honors Mrs. Jackson (upstairs)

"Class, I'm going to come around and sign off on your schedule to make sure that you're in the right class. So if you don't have them out then do so" Frau Cannon said while walking over to the row of desks on the left side of the classroom by the window.

"Since it's the first day of school I'll just give you something simple to do. I'm passing out a crossword puzzle with German words you'll be learning this week. When you're done, keep it for tomorrow," Frau Cannon said as she came to Katara's desk and signed her initials on Katara's schedule and handed her a stack of crossword puzzles.

Katara turned around to pass them down to another girl who sat right behind her. She had long dark hair covering half of her face, pale skin, dark makeup around her eyes and lips. She was wearing long black gloves with her sleeveless black shirt.

"Here you go," Katara said to her quietly.

The girl didn't say anything back, but took the papers and passed them back.

Katara turned around and started the puzzle that lay on her desk.

'Well she seems nice,' she thought sarcastically.

She spent half the class period trying to finish the crossword puzzle, but got stuck on the last word. Katara was starting to get a headache, she looked and looked all over the sheet but wasn't able to find it. Sighing in defeat she laid her head on the desk.

"Having trouble?"

Katara's head popped up and turned around to find the girl from earlier talking to her.

"Huh?"

"You seem stuck," she replied.

"Oh, yea, I am. It's the last word on here….uh…deush…land?"

"Deutschland. It's hiding between morgen and nacht."

"Oh, thanks….umm…what's your name?"

"Jun. This is your first time to take German?"

"Yes. You?"

"No, not really, I took it in middle school."

"Oh. My name's Katara."

For the rest of the class period, Jun and Katara quietly talked about their interests and other stuff.

"Oh do you have a MySpace?" Jun asked as she gathered her things before the bell.

"Yea, hang on let me get some paper out to write it down."

Searching in her bag, Katara ripped a piece out of her notebook and scribbled down her display name. She handed it to Jun just as the bell rang. Katara walked over to the desk where all the word puzzles were being turned in and walked out waiting by the door for Jun.

"So what's your next class?" Katara asked Jun.

"History. I've got to go by my locker and get, but I see you later. Bye" she waved to Katara as she disappeared through the crowd of students racing around the halls.

'Hmm...Algebra...that should be downstairs I think.'

Katara managed her way downstairs without getting shoved around so much. Holding her schedule, she began to look at the room numbers outside the classrooms. As she began to walk into the next hallway she saw a sign above the door that said 'Woolley'. The sign was a bit strange considering it was a sheep.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello my dear fans. I'm sorry that it has been forever since I've continued this story and with that I call out to you for help. I have ideas for the next few chapters but I also need questions answered before I start it.

Should Zuko have a scar? So far in the story he doesn't have one at the moment, but I will probably have him get later on in the story after it progresses some. I need your opinions.

I last left off with Katara entering her math class. It is still her first day of school and I'm debating whether to have it skip forward and go to the end of her day when she gets home or continue, at a faster pace, with her still at school? Either way I will be coming up with different parts for her and the other characters at school and outside it.

Oh another thing, extracurricular stuff, means football, soccer, drill team, band, art club, Latin dance club, track and so on. Who do you want to be in what? May I say this now, I will be going over your suggestions but I want you to keep in mind about the characters themselves. Don't put someone in something that we all know that won't fit. Ex: Sokka on the dance team!

On that same note, I will be putting some of our favorite characters in the most suitable group. Whether that is a club or stereo type group, you know the Goths, preps, jocks, the outsiders and blab blah.

Also while I'm still thinking of this now, I am obviously including our favorite air bender in the story. Though I am deciding on what grade to put him in. We know he's younger than Katara, I say about by two or three years. I figure since Katara is a freshman then that would make him a sixth or seventh grader.

Oh! This is a Zutara story but of course I will be interacting some of the characters for fun so don't worry about that. Meaning Jet will flirt with Katara and other people will seem like they're going to hook up but it's not for sure yet.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I would like to thank all my fans and their suggestions. I have taken some time reading over all of them and I enjoyed them greatly, but I don't think I can use all of them. So please don't feel hurt if I didn't use them. Besides the suggestions, I have taken some time to watch the avatar episodes since it has been awhile since I have heard their voices. I hope you enjoy this chapter and again if you don't see any of your ideas yet, don't worry about it, you will probably see some of it later on in the other chapters. Thanks again you guys.

**Chapter 10: Lunch Time**

The bell rang and students poured out into the hallway screaming and laughing. Katara moved her way through the crowd and around a corner to the cafeteria. It was huge compared to the one at her middle school, but that was probably because the ceiling was higher since it was a two story building. As much as Katara was grateful it was time for lunch, there was one thing that she dreaded. She was new and she had no idea who was in her lunch, so choosing where to sit was a pain.

There were 5 lunch lines, not including the bakery, which was already getting filled with people in line. Katara started walking toward a lunch line when she heard someone calling her name. Across the cafeteria near the back, Suki was waving her arms to get Katara's attention. Happy to see a familiar face, Katara ran over to their table. Yue was sitting with her. 'Yay!', thought Katara, 'At least we're all together.'

Katara sat her stuff down next to her seat and began asking the girls what classes they had and if they were having any fun.

"I'm hungry," stated Suki. "Let's get some food before lunch is over."

They put their stuff on the table and their chairs so no one would take their seats while they were in line.

"What line should we get in?" Yue asked.

"Not sure, what do they have?" Katara responded, while looking around at the lines.

"I don't know about y'all but I'm in the mood for pizza," Suki said as she filled her lungs with the sweet aroma of food. "That one," she pointed to a long line by the bakery.

"Alright," they agreed and followed behind Suki.

The smell of pepperoni got stronger as the line slowly moved along. 'Man I hope I have enough money for today' Katara thought to herself as pulled at a few bills from her back pocket. '$10.00, yea that should last me 'til the end of the day.'

Once they finally got to the front of the line, the lunch ladies were pulling out a new tray of fresh cheese and pepperoni pizza. The smell made Katara's stomach growl. Katara got two slices of cheese pizza with parmesan cheese. Suki got three slices of pepperoni and Yue got a bowl of Alfredo pasta.

"Gosh Suki, do you think you can finish eating all that pizza before class?" Yue asked as she eyed Suki's tray.

"Definitely. I'm starving. Come on let's get to our table before we run out of time."

When they came back with their food, they noticed people were sitting at their table. Not only that, their things were on the floor as if they had been tossed. Confused and angry, the girls walked up to the people sitting in their spot, deep in conversation.

"Excuse me, we were sitting here," Katara said to the girl with jet black hair, slicked back into a bun. She was wearing a silk maroon top with black slacks and black flats. Her skin was pale and her eyes were golden yellow. If looks could kill, it would be this girl.

"I think there must be some mistake, this is our table," she replied back.

"What?!" Suki yelled. "We were here first and our stuff was here when we left!"

"What stuff? I don't see anything. This table was clear and empty when we saw it, wasn't it girls?" she looked at her two companions.

One of the girls was dressed in all pink with her hair up in a long braid. She was wearing a pink silk top with matching pink pants and pink flats. She had gold bracelets on both wrists. 'How can she be friends with this chick?,' thought Katara.

The other girl sitting next to 'Pinky' was the complete opposite. Her skin was pale as if she had never seen the sunlight. Her hair was dark in two long ponytails and her eyes were brown. She was wearing black arm warmers, a black T-shirt with black pants and black boots to match.

'Who are these girls?' Katara thought.

"Listen, we were here first! Don't give me this crap about you not seeing our stuff or that this is your table!" Suki yelled. She was starting to get the tables near us attention.

The girl with jet black hair in a bun smirked at Suki's anger and noticed that people were beginning to stare at them. "I would suggest you find somewhere else to eat…my god what are you eating?" She said pointing at Suki's tray. "Obviously someone doesn't care about their weight," she laughed.

"That's it! I've had it with you!" Suki shrieked. She had almost dropped her tray, but Katara grabbed her arm.

"Suki, calm down. It's not worth it," she said as someone walked up behind them.

"Is there a problem here ladies?"

They turned around to see a tall, older man with huge, pointy gray side burns.

"Yes, these girls threw our bags on the floor, took our table and won't leave," Suki stated.

The man raised an eyebrow then looked at the girls at the table. The girl with her hair in a bun was inspecting her nails.

"I doubt that someone of Miss Azula's status would do such a thing," he replied staring coldly at us.

"Are you kidding me?" Katara said in rage. "You're protecting her even after what she did?"

"Unless you three want to spend the rest of your day in IBS, I would suggest you leave these girls alone. They didn't do anything. Now find somewhere else to eat your lunch before I change my mind," he said towering over Katara.

Reluctantly, they gathered their bags off the floor and walked away to find a table. Katara looked over her shoulder to see the girl named Azula smiling evilly at them. Unfortunately, there were no more tables, so they sat in the hall by the vending machines to eat.

"I can't believe this!" Suki said as they laid their bags down and sat together with their food. "That spoiled brat has the school staff on her side. Who the hell is she?" Suki said before taking a huge bite full of pizza.

"I don't know, but I'd rather avoid them if we can," Katara replied.


End file.
